US-China Public-Private Partnerships

The State of Play of Chinese Policy and Bilateral Issues

The Obama administration’s fourth major meeting with China, involving multiple Cabinet Secretaries and Chinese Ministers, the Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED), will be held May 3 and 4 in Beijing. As usual, the U.S. delegation will be lead by Secretaries Clinton and Geithner, and their Chinese hosts will be Vice Premier Wang Qishan (who focuses on economic policy) and State Councilor Dai Bingguo (responsible for foreign policy).

As leaders prepare to meet for the fourth annual U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) in Beijing this week, ChinaFAQs just released two new issue briefs that explore areas of collaboration between the two nations.

The papers highlight that both the prospect of a $2.2 trillion global market in clean energy by 2020 and expected Chinese investment of $300 billion over the next five years, to meet its ramped-up renewable energy targets in its 12^th Five-Year Plan, present a huge opportunity for the U.S. Reaping these benefits will be challenging, but can be fostered by supportive U.S. policies, coupled with collaboration from private industry.

Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, expected to become president next year, is visiting Washington the week of February 13th. This has drawn attention to the future of the U.S.-China relationship. The visit presents an attractive platform to discuss climate and energy issues, which have often represented areas of cooperation between the two countries. We asked our panel of ChinaFAQs experts to provide their insights on top issues for new leadership to address on climate and energy, as well as prospects for the U.S.-China relationship on climate and energy under a Xi presidency.

Beijing hosted a series of international meetings over the last week and a half, primarily connected to cleaner coal technologies, but also involving the partners in the US-China Clean Energy Research Centers (CERC), which include clean coal, energy efficient buildings and advanced vehicles. The primary draw to Beijing was a ministerial meeting of the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum (CSLF), a US-initiated group to advance carbon dioxide capture, use and storage (CCUS), which China hosted for the first time.

The latest meeting of the US –China Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) was held May 9 and 10 in Washington, DC and the two outcomes papers are out: The Strategic Track, which is essentially political, but also covers climate and energy, and the Economic Track, which is led by Treasury, but covers a number of trade and investment issues of interest to the energy industry.

President Hu Jintao concluded his visit to the United States Friday, after meeting with President Obama and other top government and business leaders in Washington, D.C., and Chicago. Among the many issues on the agenda for these two leaders, strengthening cooperation on climate change and clean energy is an area where real progress is being made.

While champagne glasses were clinking at the White House state dinner for Chinese President Hu Jintao, senior officials, academic experts and industry leaders from China and the United States were discussing clean energy cooperation at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel near the Jefferson Memorial. In two days of sessions at the U.S.-China Strategic Forum on Clean Energy Cooperation hosted by The Brookings Institution and the China Institute for Innovation & Development Strategy, participants reported on progress, announced business deals, and discussed next steps.